UPDATE: Check out our new 2023 Best Cities to Live in the U.S. list.
#2. Wichita
Tallgrass Film Festival
Two time zones and 1‚300 miles from the million-dollar movie sets of Hollywood‚ independent filmmakers gather in Wichita, KS each October to celebrate the visionary art of filmmaking. Sponsored by the Wichita Association of Motion Picture Arts‚ The Tallgrass Film Festival showcases both feature length and short films covering a variety of genres‚ including narrative fiction‚ documentary‚ animation and experimental‚ at venues throughout the city.
The weekend-long festival‚ started by the late Timothy Gruver in 2002‚ now draws a crowd of more than 4‚000 locals and tourists. To date, more than 10 of the festival’s featured films have been nominated for or received Sundance or Independent Spirit Awards‚ while two films featured in 2006 went on to contend for the much-coveted Oscar. Supported by major national sponsors and more than 100 local businesses‚ WAMPA has provided countless film makers a creative outlet since 2002.
Learn more about the theaters in Wichita, KS.